Learning Curve
by khan4er
Summary: The friendship between two of the Tardis's most unlikely occupants
1. Chapter 1

This story takes place between The Invisible Enemy and Image of the Fendahl. It shows how two of the most unlikely Tardis occupants became good friends.

Chapter 1

Leela had asked that the Tardis corridor lights be turned down to bare minimum. So much had happened to her, ever since she left what she now considered a planet. Even that was new, considering how she was born and raised. It wasn't that she did not know the Doctor or the Tardis, but it felt good sometimes to be alone and to act alone. Yet, she had seen so much and wondered how exactly she was feeling getting used to things she would never have seen if she had not run into the Doctor. She knew that the Doctor was not a God or a mystic, but merely an alien in control of a wondrous device. Not that the Doctor was now alone, either. He now had the presence of a robot dog. Not that she cared or did not care for robots. The Doctor was more involved in having K9 listening to the Tardis rather than her interests. As for that, she never minded that either. The Doctor could be a strange one when it came to his companions. Still, it gave her more time to focus her hunting skills and she found that, when you were with the Doctor, you needed all the training and skills you can muster, so she was pretending to hunt a wild animal. She pretended that the bushes were broken in several spots. She tracked her quarry all the way down the newly darkened Tardis corridor. Along the way, she remembered her basic skills of traveling upwind, never letting an animal get your scent, and using whatever you found along the way. You never knew when a broken branch would be just as good as a blaster. Yet, the Doctor never carried weapons of any sort, just a merely pencil thin screwdriver that he described as sonic. Good for only checking out things and undoing screws. Yet, the Doctor would arrive in situations that would almost call for the use of weapons. He did say there were weapons, but they were mostly for defense, yet he did tell her he shot arrows with a man named William Tell. Well, that was the Doctor for you. Not that she wasn't encouraged by his travels, but she preferred to be in some of his adventures. Nevertheless, all that vanished when she realized she was straying from her training. She could ask the Doctor later, if she remembered and if the Doctor was not preoccupied. Then she thought she would have better luck talking with The Nucleus of the Swarm. Anyhow, she went back to her training. She concentrated on her skill and found she really never lost them, even after traveling with the Doctor for so long or maybe, the Doctor never wanted her to lose those abilities in the first place.

As she was training, she heard a noise almost robotic in nature. She ducked low and crept quietly at the noise. She was about to pounce at the noise when she saw a red flash in the gloom of the Tardis corridor. Something red was coming, then she realized it was K9. "Mistress Leela…" it called, with half a whine. Leela rose from her crouch. "Apologies, Mistress Leela, but Doctor Master wants you in the console room." She issued a half-hearted grunt and told K9 "Tell the Doctor I am coming to see him." and K9 trundled down the corridor to deliver her message. Telling herself this was going to work out well, she asked that the lights come back on and headed back to the console room to se the Doctor.

As she got there, she was surprised to find that K9 was again hooked up to the Tardis console and the Doctor frantically moving around the mushroomed shape device with all the skill of a concert pianist trying to play ten pianos at once, or that was what he told her. Sometimes she wondered how the Doctor could fly the Tardis at all. Yet, he did and they usually landed in some place totally unexpected. Yet, the Doctor was in cheerful spirits and even his scarf seemed brighter than before. "You wanted to see me, Doctor." "Ah, yes, Leela, ah, what was it? Oh, yes. Happy Birthday! No, that wasn't it or was it? Anyhow, I have been remiss with giving out compliments to my companions. Oh, yes, now I remember. Thank You! That was it!"

He said it with a smile, but Leela remained unconvinced. "So, what is going on, Doctor?" The smile never faded, much to Leela's consternation "Well, I have been talking to the Tardis through K9 and I have been able to fix some broken instruments so we might just be able to get where we are going from now on. I've decided we should take a holiday, especially after the last goings on." Leela would have argued the last part, but she wondered if the Doctor had really fixed the Tardis. The thump of materialization came first and Leela managed to stay on her feet. The Doctor checked the readings and saw the result. "There you are, Brighton Beach!" and opened the doors. Leela looked outside and started laughing. The Tardis was standing at the edge of a jungle.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Leela was still laughing when the Doctor came out of the double doors. "Jungle, you say. K9!" The tin dog looked apologetic as he trundled near the door. "Apologies, Master, but I have detected several subroutines that could be construed as misleading to the Tardis's direction and landing." "Why did he say, Doctor?" Leela asked in puzzlement. "There are bugs in the Tardis computing system." The Doctor responded in real disappointment. He really did want to go to Brighton Beach. Instead they landed at the edge of a jungle who knew where and when. However, the Doctor insisted that everyone take a look around., so the Doctor, Leela, and K9 for all the good his wheels were doing were following a certain track in the jungle. Leela led with her tracking skills as sharp as ever. There were a few times when Leela advised they get off the track to allow certain jungle creatures to pass. They did without incident and the three travelers continued along the path. When the path split, Leela took one path and the Doctor and K9 took the other. She was not very far away from the fork when she saw another split in the paths. Following an old trail, she saw it was never really used that much. Her senses were on high alert when she heard a noise crashing through the underbrush. She was about to attack it when K9 came out into the open path. "Danger, Mistress!" he intoned in a loud voice, "hostile aliens have captured the Doctor and I believe they are following me at a high speed rate." Leela advised that they both get into the underbrush and motioned K9 to be silent and speak in a low voice. Within minutes, tall orange creatures on hover disks flew on the same trajectory that K9 was taking. "He must have traveled further. Find him and destroy him!" I will head back to base and question the alien spy!" For Leela, that meant the Doctor was yet again a prisoner of another alien race. She couldn't follow their path as they were flying. For Leela, the idea of flying disks was not new. The Doctor had taught her about races that had superior technology to her people, but he never demeaned her people. He always believed it was not the technology, but how it was used that defined a race, whether good or evil.

By the time, Leela and K9 got to the main path , she could see smoke in the distance. Where there was smoke, there was a camp and that camp had to be the base. A map of the jungle partially unfolded in her mind and she realized that the jungle was a good site to build a camp like the one the orange creatures created. Leela motioned to K9 and said "Talk low and keep an eye out for flying disks." "Yes, Mistress." said K9 in his lowest voice. She looked at the trees, the branches, even the plant leaves. They all told the story; something big had just come through that way. Leela wondered if it was a plant eater or an all thing eater. What ever it was, it was large and very heavy. Leela took a branch from a tree and sharpened it with her knife. If her blood was spilled, so would the creature's. As it happened, she could also tell that something may be following her as well. A short warning from K9 caused her and K9 to scramble from the path just in time to see more of the flying disks fly overhead. It looked like one of the disks carried some sort of symbol. Leela did not have time to worry about that. Within a short period of time, she caught up with the creature. She and K9 both tried to ease their way around the creature. However, the creature then roared and sped towards their direction. Leela then raced to meet the creature halfway and plunged the sharpened tree branch in a very vulnerable area. The creature couldn't stop its' momentum and roared again in pain. Leela took the opportunity to again stab the creature and plunged the tree branch in its' eye. The creature again roared, but Leela plunged the tree branch into its' heart. The creature bellowed and was still. However, Leela realized her fatal mistake. A second creature, bigger than the first, took off and leapt at the now defenseless Leela!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The ferocious beast leapt at Leela with claws bared. Leela was defenseless and unable to react in time. Fortunately, the beast was focused on Leela and not K9. K9 turned and fired at the beast with a stun beam that covered most of him in a wide arc. While it did not stop his pounce, it did knock him off his trajectory and he crashed into the ground, knocking him out. Leela was stunned, but also found herself unhurt, thanks to K9's timely assistance. "Good job, K9." "The creature was to attack you, Mistress. I merely used my stun effect to move it away and not cause you damage, Mistress." Leela asked K9 "How much do you know about stealth?" K9 started to ramble on the history of stealth in warfare, but Leela interrupted "No, no, K9! How are you at doing stealth missions?" K9 answered in nugatory tones, only that he could quiet his motor to a barely audible tone, if needed. After all, K9 was part of a medical hospital. He only did it on certain occasions when the patient needed rest and silence. Usually, K9 would avoid the area and use that function in extreme emergencies. However, Leela convinced K9 that this was a crucial emergency. Leela then taught K9 all about stealth and stealthy tactics. K9 could use his stun setting to stun the other creatures. Meanwhile, Leela fashioned an old tree branch broken by the monster as a club. She thought it better to knock the aliens out and raise no alarm, rather then kill them and have their death cry heard. Also, K9 could take out the flying disks, even in the air if he had to. Luck was still on their side and they reached the base with any more incident. They could hear a ranked alien "Still no sign of the robot dog, eh? You incompetents. I should make you go out into the jungle until you bring me his shattered body! Yet, we need to move. The war is beginning to fail. We need to make sure all personnel are accounted for and the new site is ready. You will do that while we make our preparations." "And the alien spy, sir?" "A waste of resources. He will be killed in one solar hour." Leela said to K9 "That doesn't leave us much time." "Agreed, Mistress." K9 spoke in his soft voice. Leela thought of her plan and said to K9 "Let's go."

Luck was still on their side when the base was left unguarded. K9 went in silent mode and destroyed all the discs with his laser. Leela crept in from the jungle, knocked out guards as she went, then crept back in. Finally, she found the command tent and motioned K9 to stay and look for any guards remaining. The tent as just as old as any other tent, except it had the same symbol as what Leela saw on the flying disc. She went in and found the Doctor idly chatting away at the General, who still held a pistol at the Doctor. He said "Ah, General, you haven't met my friend Leela yet. Leela, meet the General of a losing side." The general was shocked at the appearance of Leela and made a motion to move closer to the Doctor. He said "I am not losing this war and you will die." It was a bad move as the Doctor now had the scarf in his hand. With one portion, he disarmed the General, and with the other portion, he tripped the General and sent him crashing into the tent pole where he collapsed. "So sorry, General, but my friend Leela is here and that means it is time for me to go." The Doctor then put on his coat, hat, and scarf and said goodbye to the General. He then strode out of the tent with Leela and stated again "Thank you, Leela, or did I already say that. Hello, K9." "Greetings, Doctor Master, I take it you are unharmed." "I believe so, K9, it is time for us to go." With Leela in the leads, K9 had time to tell the Doctor of his adventure with Leela. "Well, Leela, it seems like you two have had quite an adventure without me." Leela wouldn't respond. "Oh, come on, Leela. It wasn't that bad." "I will say this, Doctor," said Leela "at least that machine" and she pointed to K9 "Is more reliable than the Tardis." The Doctor frowned, then grinned again. "Ah, well, the Tardis may have her faults, but at least we did get a journey in. Once K9 and I get all the bugs out, she'll be as right as rain." The Doctor, K9 and Leela entered into the Tardis and the familiar wheezing and groaning started as the Tardis materialized. Leela realized that she still had a lot to learn about K9, but she knew she could trust the tin dog just as much as the Doctor had. She left the console room to take a nice shower and change, hopefully into something better.


End file.
